Phantasm
by Tobirion
Summary: There were things outside their tent, Cloud knew. Waiting for them. Watching. ...Maybe. His imagination always made it hard to sleep. Angeal/Sephiroth/Cloud.


**Hiiii. Okay this is Angeal/Sephiroth/Cloud in honor of summer. Yay summerrrr. Pretty short, but who cares, right? :D  
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**Disclaimer: I don't own FFVII =[  
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_There it was again._

Cloud trembled a little, trying vainly to even out his panicked breathing. He could barely hear anything else over it. Didn't work.

It had been subtle the first time, maybe a snap of a twig or a hoot or cry out there in the dark, but just now it had been louder, a definite _crack_.

_Again! _Cloud twitched in his sleeping bag this time, eyes wide as they flickered around in the dark tent. The roof had mysterious shapes in it—_ohmygod is that a claw!_?—and if he wasn't going crazy the side closest to him just was pushed in a little, oh shit-

"Guys!" His voice was hoarse and high-pitched.

No answer. Beside him Angeal and Sephiroth continued to sleep soundly. They had been sleeping for maybe two hours, two hours where Cloud had been stiff as a board in his sleeping bag, haunted by phantom touches and imaginary sounds.

Sephiroth was closest. "S-Seph?"

Nothing! Cloud's mouth twisted and he rolled onto his side, staring at the wall of the tent. It was dark blue and thankfully not Shin-Ra issue; this was store bought and had enough room for them, their bags and the swords on the side near Angeal. They had bought Cloud a sleeping bag, warmer and comfier than the ragged one he used on missions too. Cloud was cozy and full from the dinner they had eaten around the campfire a few hours ago, but sleep was one of the last things he wanted to think about right now.

His leg tickled. Cloud jerked and frantically slapped at the spot. He freaking hated bugs; if there was one on him he was going to _scream_. ...But it was nothing, just his imagination, just like the other twenty times it had happened.

Somewhere something let out a cry. Cloud froze. He could picture it—there were hundreds of monsters surrounding their campsite, waiting until he let his guard down to attack—

"Guys!" he hissed louder. Still nothing.

Cloud heard what he thought was a deep exhale right by his ear and shot out of his sleeping bag, crawling over the large lump that was Sephiroth and diving in between the two other men, throwing an arm around each.

Sephiroth had jolted into awareness as soon as Cloud's knee had dug into his stomach. His hand felt along Cloud's body quickly, checking for any kind of injury.

"Cloud?" he asked, alarmed and completely awake.

Angeal was luckier. He yawned and mumbled, eyes still closed, "Whassamatter?"

Sephiroth was the one paying attention, so Cloud clutched onto him in a frenzy, pulling on long silver hair to emphasize his point when he hissed, "There's something outside the tent!"

"...Really?" Sephiroth frowned and listened. "Are you sure? I don't hear anything unusual."

Then came that cry he had heard earlier again. He yanked on Sephiroth's hair again and pointed straight up. "That! Did you _hear_ that?"

Now the General sounded grumpy as he untangled the boy's fingers from his hair. "It's a bird, Cloud. A mating call. Go back to sleep."

Cloud wasn't convinced. What about all the other noises? Their campsite was in a forest where there weren't any monsters, according to Sephiroth, but you could never know for sure, right? Right?

He was half-sprawled over Sephiroth's lap, and the man pushed him away, back onto his sleeping bag before lying down and turning away from him. Cloud twisted awkwardly, feeling little and silly and embarrassed. Angeal was a bit more awake now and took pity on him.

"C'mere," he murmured. Cloud carefully got up and stepped over Sephiroth, then gratefully fell into the oldest man's arms. Angeal kissed the top of his head and pulled Cloud into the sleeping bag with him. "There's nothing to worry about. There's no monsters or enemies here, I promise. The forests outside Mideel get a lot of traffic, so people always make sure it's safe. Alright?"

"Okay," Cloud said quietly against Angeal's cheek. "I'm sorry, I guess I just got freaked out."

"Don't be sorry. And, even if there was something out here, we'd be able to handle it, yeah?"

Like anything could beat two SOLDIER Firsts and a Cadet. "Right." Cloud smiled.

"Sssh," Sephiroth grunted.

Cloud could feel Angeal's smile. Sephiroth was a bitchy brat when he was woken in the middle of the night. A gentle hand began to sift through soft spikes, and they settled down for sleep again.

This was much better. It was warm next to his boyfriend, and somehow the hard ground beneath them seemed nicer now. Angeal shifted, and Cloud let out a quiet puff of laughter as the hair on the older man's leg tickled the bottom of his foot. Angeal flicked his earlobe and was still; within a few minutes he was lightly snoring again. Cloud closed his eyes too.

Tomorrow they'd go swimming. There was a little lake around here, Sephiroth had said. Gonna be fun. They had a week to kill—six more days left. Then it would be back to Shin-Ra, vacation over.

Angeal's breathing and heartbeat had just about lulled Cloud to sleep when Angeal suddenly tensed. The arm around Cloud's waist tightened to the point of pain, and only when Cloud let out a sudden groan did Angeal relax. Sephiroth's hand clamped down over Cloud's mouth, and he pulled the blond to his chest protectively.

The fear Cloud had felt earlier came back, and a thousand times worse than before. This was _real_.

Sephiroth rolled Cloud off his lap and held up a hand. Cloud got the message loud and clear—_stay put_. He nodded, not really able to see the other two that well but positive they could see him.

One grabbed the swords while the other unzipped the tent. Cloud couldn't hear anything now—the hoots of owls and chattering of the insects had stopped. He almost began to protest; if there was something out there he wanted to fight it too! But then, the two of them could probably handle it... and he'd only get in their way at his current level.

They left the tent, and Cloud strained his ears, heart in his throat.

Silence for a minute... and then—there was a loud screech and a yell he identified as Angeal's. Then the tent lit up and got hot as one of them cast a Firaga.

Cloud scrambled for his gun. The thing nearly fell out of his grasp—his palms were sweaty and his hands shook, but he managed to press against the back of the tent and get the weapon ready, pointing it at the door and hovering a finger by the trigger.

_Twenty seconds. Then I'm going out there and shooting that fucker into next week._

Cloud counted, listening to the sounds of battle. Around nine it went quiet, and at seventeen the door to the tent opened.

Cloud shouted and dug his heels into the skewed bedding on the floor as he fired off a round of bullets. There were several loud clangs, and pain sliced across Cloud's right cheek. He stopped and opened his eyes. The Buster Sword was up, sporting a few nice scratches. Angeal and Sephiroth slowly peeked around it, eyes wide.

"Guys!" Cloud cried out in relief, getting up and stumbling to them. "What happened!"

"...You just shot at us, is what happened," Angeal muttered in amazement. "It's a miracle you didn't get—_dammit_."

Cloud's head was seized between Angeal's hands, and within just a few seconds he felt cool green light fall over him. Sephiroth pocketed the materia and wiped at Cloud's cheek; his fingers came back coated in blood. Cloud had shot himself. Sorta.

"Ah, I'm fine," Cloud reassured, pushing Angeal away. "Where's the thing you killed? What was it?"

"Basilisk," Sephiroth warned, and Cloud squinted his eyes. You'd turn into stone if you looked at one of these in the eye.

"Where is it?"

The General replied ominously, "The body has been disposed of."

The three men were quiet, then Cloud asked, looking out into the dense trees surrounding them, "I thought you said there weren't any monsters, Angeal?"

"...Dunno."

Good enough answer. No one wanted to go back to sleep (and they almost couldn't; there were a few holes in the tent fabric where ricocheting bullets had gone through). Sephiroth, even grumpier than before, grabbed the bag of marshmallows by the picnic table and sat in his fold-out chair by the fire pit.

"Save some for me!" Cloud scolded. Sephiroth turned around, cheeks bulging and eyes narrowed, and grunted at him. Cloud giggled and trooped into the woods a couple of feet to find three good sticks to use. Angeal had changed into long pants in the tent, came out and lit a fire with materia, then grabbed a beer from the cooler and sighed loudly as he sat down. It was maybe two in the morning, still pitch dark. The stars were out though, not quite as many as Cloud could see back at home but definitely more than in Midgar.

Five minutes later Cloud carefully pulled his first marshmallow off his stick and said as he chewed, "That was exciting." Sephiroth sent him a dark look, and Angeal snorted.

"I wonder if we should try to find a new campsite," Angeal said after a few peaceful moments.

Cloud thought about that. "No... I think I like it here. Can we stay? I guess it's when I _don't _hear any noise I should worry. I feel better now." The usual forest sounds were back, and they were actually kind of soothing. It was weird, that it took being attacked by a monster to get Cloud to relax.

"Aha, sure."

They chatted, still a little bit on edge and alert. Hopefully nothing else would come. Cloud had a sip of Angeal's beer when the man had left to relieve himself. "Mm, I'm not tired at all. We should go exploring."

Sephiroth scowled at him again. It was more him pretending to still be mad then him actually being unhappy with him, Cloud knew. He laughed and wandered over to the older man, obediently opening his mouth when Sephiroth held a slightly blackened marshmallow out. The guy was really picky, so whenever he got one that was even a little 'burnt' he gave it to Angeal or threw it into the flames with a curse.

They shared a few sticky kisses, then Sephiroth gently pulled away to eat the little bit of melting goo off Cloud's fingertips.

"I'm sorry I—eehh, _Sephiroth_, that tickles, cut it out!—woke you up earlier."

"Don't worry about it." Sephiroth tugged Cloud down to lick off a little bit of white on the corner of his mouth. When Cloud was clean enough Sephiroth pushed him away, and Cloud sat in his own chair with a smile.

It really wasn't so bad. Sure, they had just been attacked by a basilisk in the middle of the night, but they had beaten it, hadn't they? After that there really wasn't anything for him to fear anymore. The weather was nice, and so was the food; he was ready to enjoy himself.

Angeal burped from across the campfire, and Sephiroth threw a marshmallow at him. Angeal caught it easily and pushed it into his mouth, flashing the finger.

Cloud grinned. You couldn't beat the company, either.


End file.
